‘We have been living in a bubble, a bubble of false comfort and denial. In the rich nations, we have begun to believe we have transcended the material world. The wealth we’ve accumulated – often at the expense of others – has shielded us from reality. Living behind screens, passing between capsules – our houses, cars, offices and shopping malls – we persuaded ourselves that contingency had retreated, that we had reached the point all civilisations seek: insulation from natural hazards.

Now the membrane has ruptured, and we find ourselves naked and outraged, as the biology we appeared to have banished storms through our lives. The temptation, when this pandemic has passed, will be to find another bubble. We cannot afford to succumb to it. From now on, we should expose our minds to the painful realities we have denied for too long.’...George Monbiot, The Guardian, 25 March 2020

What a pity that we have not yet grasped this simple wisdom: Our Sacred Earth is only Home We Have

‘We are limited to one vessel, with nowhere else to go.’

Photo: Smithsonian Magazine

Today the world is overwhelmed with fear and anxiety, understandably so. At the same time, we are also seeing an emerging thirst for change. Our electronic connectedness and access to information is, in our confinement, isolation and social-distancing, beginning to translate into wider human connection and the development of ideas, vision and insights. There is a growing awareness that the response to this crisis must not shore up the life-destroying structures that have failed.

The UN's environment chief has called COVID-19 "a clear warning shot" from nature, explaining that pandemics could become more frequent if we return to destructive business-as-usual, because exploitation and destruction of natural habitats and ecosystems upset nature's balance.

This is why this day (7 April) is such a significant day. A day to recall and be inspired by Wordworth’s life, work, wisdom and the timeless message of hope, healing and recovery.

Today is William Wordsworth 250Th Birthday: A Day to Remember, a Day to Reflect on the Beauty, Wonder, Wisdom and the Healing Power of Nature

When a tsunami of life's crises hit him on the shores of fear, hopelessness, helplessness, self-doubt and destruction, he let nature embrace him to give him hope for better days to come. Wordsworth is telling us of shared experience. ‘We have all of us,' he wrote, `one human heart':`There's not a man who lives that hath not had/ His godlike hours.' His aspirations are for us all, and his sense of human frailty started with himself: `we lay waste our powers.'...

In times of uncertainty, crisis and confusion let nature be your refuge, your saviour, as William Wordsworth did so convincingly.